When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

Harbin patted his backside and stood up, looking at the astonished gazes around him, yet he felt no shame whatsoever.

Back when those hooligans chased him to his doorstep, he faced much more contemptuous looks than now.

As a new-generation Dwarf of the Dragon Worship Sect, Harbin was highly secularized, lacking the strong sense of honor the older generation held so dear.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen the path of a merchant back then.

Leading a small pony from the stable, Harbin didn't mount it but walked it towards the Town Hall.

After seeing his father and delivering the mithril, he conveniently planned to pick up the list of artisans from Gray Furnace Town for the Holy Casting Department.

Guiding the small pony along the main road of Gray Furnace Town, Harbin looked around, sensing that this place was completely different from the Gray Furnace Town he once visited.

The previously crimson gambling halls and brothels had been completely dismantled and transformed, with some parts turned into labor dormitories and others into public buildings and shops.

The trash and illegal buildings along the roadside were cleared away, making room for avenues wide enough for two carriages to run parallel.

Everywhere along the road were stone mason teams carrying hammers, boards, and buckets of mortar.

As Harbin strolled and paused, he noticed that at least three out of every ten houses by the roadside were being renovated, rebuilt, or demolished for reconstruction.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Halting by a bustling construction site, Harbin couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

This construction site before him used to be the gambling hall that had swindled away all his possessions.

As time passed, the owner behind the gambling hall was hanged at Joan of Arc Castle, and the hooligans running the place were sent collectively to Daze Village to dig mud.

And as for Harbin himself? He had risen to become a supervisor in the Holy Casting Department, respected everywhere he went.

Fate, indeed, was like a wild donkey, once it started running, it just didn't stop.

Everywhere Harbin looked, there were teams led by stone masons constructing brand-new houses and roads.

Chunks of red and blue bricks were stacked together, then smeared with mortar to be solidified, and wooden frameworks jutted out from the stucco.

Bricklayers in open vests sat astride beams, laying large sheets of shale tiles on the rooftops.

"To the left, to the left, hey hey hey, okay, okay!"

"We're short one more batch of bricks. Check with the nearby village, if not, offer more money to make them work overtime and fire another batch."

"Ouch, ouch, I've broken my leg."

The stone mason holding the measuring line angrily directed the pulley crane, as a few unlucky bricklayers occasionally fell off the roof.

Several Alchemist Priests from the engineering team pressed their hands against the walls, reinforcing the newly built mortar outer walls, while the laborers dumped building materials onto the ground using wheelbarrows.

With the end of the tumultuous period, and as the harvest season passed, a massive influx of grain hit the market, causing the previously tense atmosphere to gradually dissipate.

Thus, the reconstruction work for Gray Furnace Town and even the entire Kush Territory was reopened.

The bustling scene was the result of not only public enthusiasm but also a significant push from the official Horn authorities.

They exempted new buildings from taxes for three years and offered considerable tax incentives on various building materials.

Some relatively low-end and easily accessible building material industries became the go-to side businesses for many Hundred Households Districts in the countryside.

For example, brick kilns were nearly ubiquitous in districts with excellent clay sources nearby.

In the past, building a medium-sized town house would cost about 5 to 20 gold pounds, but now it would not exceed 10 gold pounds at most.

The most astonishing aspect was that not only did material costs like mortar decrease, but even labor costs dropped significantly.

After the "Labor Law" was abolished, workers' wages had no upper limit and were no longer prevented from buying and wearing better clothing and attire.

In the initial phase of the "Labor Law" cancellation, the labor market indeed experienced a surge in prices.

However, as the harvest season ended and the slack agricultural season began, the abolition of the "Fugitive Slave Act" allowed farmers to move freely, leading to a large number of rural youths entering the labor industry.

Thus, labor wages plummeted like a diving board, with city residents all eager to seize the opportunity to build a new house or renovate an old one, or to invest in houses or shops.

Some retired Salvation Army veterans or farmers involved in previous fort construction formed civil engineering teams upon returning.

The stone masons handled the design, while the civil engineering teams took care of the primary construction work.

The chief craftsmen felt satisfied with the earnings, the laboring farmers considered themselves to have profited, and the financiers and the Salvation Army Government felt that they had profited.

Those who felt they lost out were probably only the old laborers from before.

After bypassing a section of road with mortar pavements under construction, the Town Hall appeared before him.

The Town Hall consisted of a three-story building, occupying nearly two acres of land.

The Town Hall, over ten meters tall, was also over ten meters wide, and its dark orange plaster walls were adorned with gear-patterned reliefs.

Harbin didn't take the longer route through the main entrance but instead led his horse to the side door.

Under the cold and quiet vaulted doorway lay a one-legged veteran porter dozing on a recliner, his linen shirt lifted to reveal a hairy belly.

Yet as soon as Harbin approached, the snoring stopped abruptly, and the veteran's eyes shot open, staring at Harbin.

"Who... Master Harbin?"

"Go inform your scribe to bring down the updated list of artisans. I won't go up," Harbin said cheerfully to the veteran. "I caught you napping on duty."

"Hey, it's not exactly a census registration day; no one ever comes to the Town Hall. It's just a nap, ah—" the veteran, with a wooden leg supporting his left foot, wobbled upstairs to the second floor.

The first floor of the Gray Furnace Town Town Hall housed the town's registration office, storage, and the Night Watch Office, the second floor had the finance office and court, while the third floor contained the meeting hall and archive room.

The entire operation of Gray Furnace Town was basically conducted in this small space.

Though the veteran had a lame leg, he moved quickly, and in a few minutes, a scribe came trotting down the stairs.

"Master Harbin, here is the artisan list." The scribe, wearing a black wool coat in the midsummer, offered a thin booklet. The short, stiff hair on the top of his head revealed that the scribe was once a low-grade monk.

"Oh." After flipping through the list for a quick check, Harbin confirmed its accuracy and signed the receipt file of the scribe.

Once the list was secured, Harbin greeted the scribe and the porter before mounting the small pony and heading towards the main gate.

Facing the main street two meters away from the main gate were two pedestals on which the Lion-bodied Hogo Statues watched the passing pedestrians with stern faces.

This type of statue was present in nearly every Town Hall, said to symbolize the authoritative and brave nature of the Saint's Grandson, akin to a lion.

Despite there being eight towns in Kush Territory, only three actually established Town Halls—Gray Furnace Town, Sour Melon Town, and Klei Town.

These three small towns and Joan of Arc Castle served as the administrative centers for the 363 Hundred Households Districts of Kush Territory.

Other small towns were either too small or had overlapping administrative divisions, so they were left to elect their own Town Mayor, Town Magistrate, and other personnel to handle their management.

Although the elections were autonomous, the intention of the Salvation Army Government was also significant.

Their elected lists needed to be verified and signed by the superior Town Hall, and they held the power to call for reelection or dismissal of the Town Mayor.

The number of officials in the Town Hall remained low, generally between 15-25 people.

Typically, these included five main public officials: the Town Mayor, the scribe, the Finance Officer, a Tax Officer, and a Night Watch Captain, usually either retained from before or newly hired, resulting in variable proficiency levels.

At present, most of these officials were carried over from before or hired, so the levels of skill varied, leading to inconsistencies.

Harbin, despite having a lame leg, moved briskly, returning in just a few minutes with the updated list of artisans.

Walking around a section of road under repair with sand and mortar, the Town Hall eventually came into view.

The Town Hall comprised a three-story edifice covering nearly two acres of land with dark orange lime walls embellished with gear-patterned panels.

Instead of taking the long way around to the main entrance, Harbin led his small horse to the side gate.

The one-legged old veteran doorman was dozing on a recliner beneath the vaulted doors, his linen shirt pulled up to reveal his hairy belly.

Yet as soon as Harbin approached, the snoring stopped immediately, and he opened his eyes abruptly to look at Harbin.

"Who's there... Lord Harbin?"

"Can you let your scribe know to bring down the updated artisans list? I won't go upstairs." Harbin said with a grin to the old veteran, "You were napping on duty, and I caught you."

"Hey, it's not registration time, the Town Hall's empty, just a nap, ah—" The veteran with the wooden leg swayed as he headed up to the second floor.

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